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Manuel "Manny" Calavera
"You know, sweetheart, if there's one thing I've learned, it's this: nobody knows what's gonna happen at the end of the line, so you might as well enjoy the trip." - Manny's last words to Meche before leaving the Land of the Dead. Manuel Calavera, as well as being the protagonist, is the only playable character in Grim Fandango. The player assumes the role of Manny at the beginning of Year One, following right up to his departure from the Land of the Dead at the end of Year Four. As penance for his sins, Manny is not allowed to simply leave the Land of the Dead, but instead must work as a travel agent (a.k.a. a Reaper) in the Department of Death. He spends the first two years of the game following Meche. Personality Manny is shown to be incredibly sarcastic and quick-witted all through his journey across the Eighth underworld. At the start of the game, he is portrayed as rather pessimistic to his fate. As the game goes on, he becomes significantly more optimistic and sometimes heroic, prompting the attention of various revolutionary characters, such as Salvador Limones. One of Manny's very noticeable traits is his competitive streak. As a salesman, he constantly compares himself to Domino and, later, as a club owner to Maximino. Early on in the game, he wonders whether or not he would be happier working a ship, but dismisses it as he knows he'd be too competitive and not rest until he was captain. While not a bad thing, Manny's competitive streak often blinds him to the needs of others early on in the game, for instance, he first saw Meche as his ticket out of the ninth underworld, when later he became more sensitive to other trapped souls and chose to help them too. Manny seems to like playing card games too, mainly Solitaire, he has a deck that's frayed around the edges, like himself he states, and he has fewer suits. Biography Almost nothing is known about Manny's life in the Land of the Living (although a non-canonical reference suggests he was a dead pirate). Periodically throughout the game, Manny states he doesn't know what sin he committed that got him stuck at the Department of Death, he may in all fairness have comitted an innocent sin but if so he is willing to work his time off regardless. In Year 1 he says that he has no one he cares to visit during the Day of the Dead festival, suggesting he may have no family or friends, or at least none he wishes to see. During his time at the Department of Death, it is known he has spent several years working there, and in his early days he learned a lot about how Double N tickets behave. He is also known to have logged more significant time at the D.O.D than even his boss, Don Copale. Manny used to have Domino Hurley's office but somehow got demoted to the storage room, which is now his office. Whether this is because of the scams his superiors were running is unknown, but given Manny's nature to figure things out quickly and his competitiveness, it's a possibility. Year 1 The game opens in the city of El Marrow, where DOD travel agent, otherwise known as a reaper, Manuel Calavera works. He is first seen welcoming Celso Flores, newly dead, to the Land of the Dead. Manny explains that each immigrant soul must embark on a journey, which normally takes four years — unless that soul had been very good in life and deserves a better way to travel. However, Manny finds that Celso does not qualify for any travel package. Celso is then forced to travel on foot with The Excelsior – a walking stick with a compass in the handle. Celso takes his situation in stride, stating that at least he isn't stuck like Manny is. After returning to the office, Manny receives a special service order: a mass poisoning happened, and there were too many dead to assign customers. Manny took advantage of what seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a good client. However, Domino Hurley, Manny's business rival and coworker, had given Manny's driver the day off, preventing him from getting a good client. Manny then goes to the garage and meets Glottis, a mechanic demon. He hires Glottis as his new driver, though it was already too late: by the time Manny had arrived in the Land of the Living, there was only one dead body left: Bruno Martinez, a snotty soul. Tired of getting bad clients, Manny decides to steal one of Domino's clients: Mercedes "Meche" Colomar. He is convinced that Meche deserves a Double-N Ticket because she was a very kind person, dedicating her time to the most needed. To Manny's surprise, his office computer concludes that Meche deserves nothing. He leaves his office and is suddenly called by Don Copal, his boss. After an argument between employer and employee, Don Copal asks his secretary, Eva, to call Meche – only to discover that she had already left, saying "she had a long walk ahead". Manny is fired and locked in Glottis's room in the garage. Some time passes, and a stranger offers to unlock the door, if only Manny would swear loyalty to the DOD, which Manny refuses to do, even after being asked several times. Convinced of Manny's will, the man reveals himself to be Salvador "Sal" Limones, and invites Manny to join the Lost Souls Alliance, a revolutionary organization of which he is founder. Within the LSA hideout, Manny learns that there is a web of corruption within the DOD, Meche being one out of many others cheated out of their Double-N tickets. Part of the scam is automatically saddling innocent agents like Manny with bad clients and outright rigging his computer to have all his clients receive nothing, no matter how good they were. Like Manny, Sal was once a reaper himself. Eva is also shown to be an LSA agent. After running some errands for Sal, he helps Manny get out of El Marrow, following an underground passage that opens at the edge of the Petrified Forest. Venturing within, Manny finds an unemployed and devastated Glottis, who has literally reached into his chest and threw his heart away from grief. After Manny finds and returns Glottis's heart, the two travel through the Petrified Forest unhindered before encountering the demon beavers, which Manny defeats with the use of a fire extinguisher. After getting out of the Forest, the pair reach Rubacava. Searching for Meche, Manny wanders into the dense fog, only to fall off the end of a terrace and into the water below. He is saved by a sailor named Velasco. After being saved, Manny goes to a restaurant and finds Celso, who is working as a janitor. Celso explains that he is waiting for his wife, saying that Manny would be free to take his job as soon as his wife arrived. Manny tries to help look for Celso's wife, though he learns through Velasco that she left Rubacava two months prior, in the arms of another man. Upon learning this, Celso decides to look for his wife himself, leaving Manny with the job. The year ends with a reflection of Celso: Manny mopping the floor, waiting for Meche. Year 2 A year later, Manny is the owner of the restaurant Café Calavera, which is also a nightclub and a casino. Manny is first seen smoking on the roof, when his employee, Lupe, appears and tells him that a client is looking for him. Manny dismisses her, but a persistent Lupe wins the argument. Manny goes to see the client, who looks suspiciously like Meche. The strange person is revealed to be a demon raven, and upon being approached, flies away. Manny uses the on-terrace binoculars and sees Meche being manhandled by Domino onto a cruise ship. Manny tries to give chase, though loses his grip when Meche throws a bottle at him. Manny is once again saved by Velasco. Manny learns that the ship is headed to Puerto Zapato, and that the Limbo is the only ship that goes that far. In order for Manny to get onto the ship, he needs to do three things: Get tools for Glottis, obtain membership to the Sea-Bee Union, and take the place of Seaman Naranja, the only sailor yet to report for duty. Manny talks with Terry, an unemployed Sea-Bee, and learns that Terry doesn't have his tools anymore: he had to sell them to feed his family and tries to live honestly, but barely manages. Manny convinces him to rebel against the opression, but Terry is seen by Chief Bogen and is arrested. Manny looks for Nick Virago, Maximino's lawyer in the Blue Casket, Olivia Ofrenda's nightclub and a place for beatniks. There, he finds Lola, a photographer who is trying to prove that Olivia is not good for Max, takes a photo of Nick and Olivia kissing each other and runs away. She manages to hide the photo and leave clues, but Nick sprouts her before Manny could get there. Following the clues, Manny finds the photo and blackmails Nick to free Terry. Terry retrives his tools back and protests against the tirany. Manny ask Glottis to carry when they are leave the town. With help from the criminal Chowchilla Charlie, who promises to make a Union Card, if Manny retrieves some stolen money from Max. Using a VIP Pass, Manny enters in High Rollers Lounge. He locks Raoul and waits Glottis to drink all the wine, then hides himself in the barrel to get into the cellar. Using a fork-lift to stop the elevator, Manny discovers a secret room and finds the Charlie's suitcase. For Manny' surprise, there wasn't money inside but hundreds of Double-N Tickets. He hands over the suitcase to Charlie and receives the Union Card. To stop Naranja to get aboard, Manny goes to Toto Santos's place where Naranja is making a tattoo. Using a turkey baster filled with hookah, Manny makes Naranja fall in sleep. Then, he rips Naranja' chain and goes to the morgue. There, he throws the chain in the corpse, making both Velasco and the legist Membrillo to believe that Naranja was sprouted. After doing all this things, Manny closes his own nightclub by making Chief Bogen to lose. Bogen starts a blitz in the place and Glottis is kicked out from the High Rollers Lounge. They get aboard in Velasco' ship and the year ends with Manny cleaning the floor. Year 3 In the third year, Manny is captain of the former Limbo ship re-named Lola (after his friend who was sprouted on the lighthouse in year 2) along with Glottis, the ship is heavily modified and able to move at great speed but now anchored at Puerto Zapata. Upon his arrival a carrier pigeon from Salvador informs Manny that Meche never made it that far, but threw herself overboard at The Pearl. At the same time a customs inspection is underway but it's a trap leaving the crew sprouted. Glottis manages to save Manny from the boarders and with clever use of the anchors, they're able to escape before finally sinking in what remains of their ship. Under the ocean they meet a strange little fellow who tells them he's been walking the ocean floor for years, and that a strange glow in the distance is "The Moon" at once, Manny suspects it's The Pearl and again with Glottis' help, they make their way over to find an octopus who snatches souls who've been dropped from above ships and takes them captive in a submarine only to sail away to a small outcrop island at the edge of the world where they are kept from their destinations and used for mining coral for making lightbulbs as a cover operation. Here Manny looses Glottis but reunites with Meche who had become angrier than she was, yet offers to trust Manny if he trusts her, but she needs a token first. Later after some revelations, Manny finds Glottis and they with Meche manage to escape in an even older ship rescued from the edge of the outcrop. Year 4 Year 4 opens at the site of a large Mayan style temple, Meche, Glottis, Manny and a few other souls have walked there across snowy wastes, and this journey has exhausted Glottis who is very weak and sick from not driving in such a long time.The Mayan temple is a gateway to the Land Of Eternal Rest, it's guarded by a Mayan Priest who is keeping everyone but Manny, Meche and Glottis in a waiting room, waiting for their tickets. Trying to explain to the Priest, a train approches with Nick the lawyer on board, as he most likey got his ticket by ill gain, the train transformes into a devil-train and plunges to a firely pit. Manny then manages to help find a fuel for a vehicle that the gremlins build, and it takes them all the way back to Rubacava in order to pick up their vehicle which will take them further back to El Marrow which has changed and is now called Nuevo Marrow. There's a new boss in Marrow, his name is Hector LeMans, he runs a huge city of lights and gambling, even the D.O.D has changed into a casino. Upon returning to the L.S.A a member crawls in having been sprouted, but is saved by Salvador, being cut in two, he can perform special skills which Manny uses later to help complete a disguise. When he finally makes it to the head office, Hector escapes with a suitcase full of double N tickets, catching up with him is thanks and no thanks to Olivia who it turns out is working for Hector and already beheaded Salvador. Manny however isn't out of tricks and after surviving a shot himself uses sproutilla to fnally see the end of Hector. After the demise of LeMans, Manny and everyone he helped is seen on the Double N train heading back for the Mayan temple, Manny says his goodbyes to Glottis who is sad to see his friend go, but will be happy with his new life. Manny and Meche are finally together going into the final resting place as a mariachi band plays them on their way. Quotes "My scythe; I like to keep it next to where my heart used to be." –''Examining his scythe'' "They say black is slimming." –''To Glottis, on his new job as a driver'' "My name is Manny Calavera. I'm your new travel agent." –''To customers'' "Ay Chihuahua" - When In Trouble "Ah The Old Files, The Old Clients, The Glory Days When People Died With Dignity And Domino Hurley Didn't Exist" - Filing Cabinet At The D.O.D "Oh Man Did I Come In On Saturday Again?" - To Eva "It's My Boss' Secretaries' Evil Twin!" - Seeing Eva In The L.S.A 'Trivia' Manny Calavera made a cameo apperance in another Lucasarts game "The Curse Of Monkey Island" he was sat quietly in captain Blondebeard's chicken resturaunt, until Guybrush pushed him for attention and a badge fell off the skeleton reading "Ask Me About Grim Fandango" Category:Character